The clinical spectrum of muscle- and skeletal-related side-effects of statins includes varied myalgias and weakness, an asymptomatic increase in the concentration of creatine kinase and other biochemical parameters, myositis and rhabdomyolysis. Currently, there is no consensus on the definition of ‘statin myopathy’. Evidence suggests that deleterious effects may also be associated with the volume or dosage of structured exercise and/or the intensity of physical activity. Moreover, non-muscle adverse effects on the joints and tendons are often overlooked and underemphasized. The incidence of myopathy associated with statin treatment typically ranges between 1.5% and 10%. Few data are available regarding the prevalence of muscle- related symptoms associated with different statins and the distribution of affected muscles. Furthermore, discrepancies between clinical trials and daily practice may emanate, in part, because of inconsistent definitions or exclusion criteria. The pathophysiology of statin-related myopathy is incompletely understood. A dose-dependent and proapoptotic effect, direct effects on mitochondria, drug interactions and genetic factors, or combinations thereof, may be involved. Recently, a rare immune-mediated myopathy triggered by statin use has been described. With the increasing number of patients treated with statins and with more patients being prescribed high doses of potent statins to achieve low-density lipoprotein targets, muscle-related side-effects will become more prevalent. Currently, the only effective treatment is the discontinuation of statin use. Further research is needed to develop alternative LDL-lowering drugs when statins are not well tolerated and to establish additional effective strategies to manage lipids and lipoproteins.

Background: The present population‐based cohort study investigated long‐term mortality after surgical aortic valve replacement (AVR) with bioprosthetic (B) or mechanical aortic valve prostheses (M) in a European social welfare state.Methods: We analysed patient data from health insurance records covering 98% of the Austrian population between 2010 and 2018. Subsequent patient‐level record linkage with national health data provided patient characteristics and clinical outcomes. Further reoperation, myocardial infarction, heart failure and stroke were evaluated as secondary outcomes.Results: A total of 13,993 patients were analysed and the following age groups were examined separately: 65 years (10,654 patients: 1.26% M, 98.74% B). Multivariable Cox regression revealed that the use of B‐AVR was significantly associated with higher mortality in patients aged 50–65 years compared to M‐AVR (HR = 1.676 [1.289–2.181], p < 0.001). B‐AVR also performed worse in a competing risk analysis regarding reoperation (HR = 3.483 [1.445–8.396], p = 0.005) and myocardial infarction (HR = 2.868 [1.255–6.555], p = 0.012). However, the risk of developing heart failure and stroke did not differ significantly after AVR in any age group.Conclusions: Patients aged 50–65 years who underwent M‐AVR had better long‐term survival, and a lower risk of reoperation and myocardial infarction. Even though anticoagulation is crucial in patients with M‐AVR, we did not observe significantly increased stroke rates in patients with M‐AVR. This evident survival benefit in recipients of mechanical aortic valve prostheses aged <65 years critically questions current guideline recommendations.

A 31 year old man with a 17-year-history of drug abuse (heroine and cannabis) was admitted with recurrent chest pain over a period of about three weeks. Chest discomfort severely worsened during the 5 hours before hospital admission. Electrocardiography revealed poor R-wave progression and non specific repolarization abnormalities. Echocardiography showed extensive left ventricular anterior and apical wall motion abnormalities and a ventricular thrombus located at the apex of the left ventricle was present. Subsequently, a diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome was made. Coronary angiography revealed spontaneous coronary artery dissection of the left anterior descending (LAD) artery with Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) flow 2 to 3. We managed the patient conservatively. The clinical course was uneventful and repeated angiography on day 4 demonstrated spontaneous healing of large parts of the dissection with TIMI 3 flow in the LAD.

Although drug-eluting stents (DES) reduce restenosis rates relative to bare-metal stents (BMS), recent reports have indicated that the use of DES may be associated with an increased risk of stent thrombosis. Our study focused on the effect of stent type on clinical outcomes in a "real world" setting. 889 patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with either DES (Cypher or Taxus; n=490) or BMS (n=399) were enrolled in a prospective single center registry. The outcome analysis covered a period of up to 3.2 years (mean 2.7 years+/-0.5 years) and was based on 65 deaths, 27 myocardial infarctions, 76 clinically driven target lesion revascularizations (TLR), and 15 angiographically confirmed cases of definite stent thrombosis and was adjusted for differences in baseline characteristics. In total 1277 stents (613 BMS and 664 DES) were implanted in 1215 lesions. Despite a significantly different unadjusted death rate (10.1% and 5.1% in BMS and DES patients, respectively; p<0.05), the patient groups did not differ significantly in the risk of myocardial infarction during 2.7 years of follow-up. After adjustment for differences in baseline characteristics between groups, the difference in the cumulative incidence of death did not remain statistically significant (p=0.22). Target lesion revascularizations occurred significantly less frequently in patients with DES compared to individuals after BMS implantation (5.9% and 11.8% in patients with DES and BMS, respectively; p<0.05). The rate of angiographically confirmed stent thrombosis was 2.1% in patients with DES and 1.1% in BMS patients (p=0.31). There was a significantly lower unadjusted event rate (including deaths, myocardial infarction, target lesion revascularization, and stent thrombosis) in patients with drug-eluting stents than in those with bare-metal stents (16.4% and 25.8%, respectively), with 9.4 fewer such events per 100 patients (unadjusted hazard ratio [HR], 0.64; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.46 to 0.87). After adjustment, the relative risk for all outcome events in patients with drug-eluting stents was 0.79 (95% CI, 0.67 to 0.95). However, the adjusted relative risk for death and myocardial infarction did not differ significantly between groups (adjusted relative risk in patients with drug-eluting stents 0.94 (95% CI, 0.77 to 1.37)). In this real-world population, the beneficial effect of first generation DES in reducing the need for new revascularization compared with BMS extends to more than 2.5 years without evidence of a worse safety profile. The minor risk of stent thrombosis and myocardial infarction within this period after implantation of DES seems unlikely to outweigh the benefit of these stents.

Acute kidney injury (AKI), mostly defined as a rise in serum creatinine concentration of more than 0.5 mg/dl, is a common, serious, and potentially preventable complication of percutaneous coronary intervention and is associated with adverse outcomes including an increased risk of inhospital mortality. Recent data from the National Cardiovascular Data Registry/Cath-PCI registry including 985,737 consecutive patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention suggest that approximately 7% experienced AKI with a reported incidence of 3–19%. In patients undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention for acute myocardial infarction (AMI), AKI occurs more frequently with rates up to 20% depending on patient and procedural characteristics. However, varying definitions of AKI limit comparisons of AKI rates across different studies. Recently, most studies have adopted the Acute Kidney Injury Network (AKIN) criteria for definition and classification of AKI. Beyond the AKIN criteria for AKI, other classifications such as the risk, injury, failure, loss and end-stage kidney disease (RIFLE) and kidney disease: improving global outcomes (KDIGO) criteria are used to define AKI. Notably, even small increases in serum creatinine beyond AKI may be associated with adverse outcomes including increased hospital length of stay and excess. Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a serious and potentially preventable complication of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Worsening renal function is associated with adverse outcomes including a higher rate of in-hospital mortality. In patients undergoing primary PCI for acute myocardial infarction (AMI), AKI occurs up to 20% of such individuals. Varying definitions of AKI limit comparisons of AKI rates across different studies. Additionally, even small increases in serum creatinine beyond lavels meeting AKI definitions may be associated with adverse outcomes including increased hospital length of stay.